The Black History Commission of Arkansas and the Arkansas
History Commission will be hosting a symposium from 10 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on
Saturday, June 6, at the Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and
Hospitality Management Institute in Little Rock. The symposium’s theme, “The
Roots of African American Foodways,” will feature award-winning food and
nutrition journalist, Toni Tipton-Martin; historian and author, Dr. Cindy
Grisham; Executive Chef Evette Brady and Chef Tim Morton from1620 Savoy in
Little Rock; and BHCA Commissioner Joyce Gibson.

AHC Announces New Grant Projects

As you read above, we are holding a symposium on African
American foodways next month. We could not have put on this symposium without
the generous help of the Arkansas Humanities Council. The symposium is being
funded in part by a $1350 mini-grant that will help to pay for advertising,
renting the Pulaski Technical College Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management
Institute, honoraria for our speakers, and supplies.

Black History Commission News

This month we bid a fond farewell to one of our
commissioners, Marion Butler. Mr. Butler has served on the BHCA from 2008-2015.
The AHC hosted a reception in Butler’s honor on May 13.

From the Director

Last month, the AHC celebrated its 110th anniversary of
collecting and preserving Arkansas history with an open house and the unveiling
of an Arkansas history mural. The staff at the AHC appreciated the support of
friends and colleagues in the history, archives, museum, and library
communities who turned out to celebrate the occasion with us.

Isaac Asbury Clarke was born in Overton County, Tennessee, on March
22, 1837. At the age of six, he and his mother moved to Berryville,
Arkansas. Clarke enrolled at the University of Missouri in 1860, but
left a year later to enlist in the Confederate Army, in which he served
until the end of the Civil War. Since the Berryville school was burned
during the war, Clarke founded his own academy in Berryville on January
14, 1867, and taught there for thirty-five years. Clarke's Academy
taught students from all over northwestern Arkansas, as well as from
eastern Texas, Oklahoma, and southwestern Missouri.
Clarke married
Virginia G. Layton of Taney County, Missouri, in November, 1871. They
had three children, Cuthbert, Vinnie, and Fannie. Isaac Clarke died on
May 26, 1907, and was buried in the Berryville Memorial Cemetery.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

One of the greatest musicians in American history passed
away earlier this month. B.B. King died on May 14, 2015 at the age of 89. His
guitar playing, blues singing, songwriting, and tireless touring for well over
fifty years made him one of the most famous American celebrities throughout the
world. Decades of success with very little drop in integrity and quality of
musicianship and showmanship made him truly the “King of the Blues.”

B.B. King’s most famous connection with Arkansas involved
his adventures in Twist, Arkansas. The following is a transcript of the story
he told many times throughout his career:

“Well, in 1949, I used to play a
place in Arkansas called Twist, Arkansas. I know a lot of people laugh
when I say that, but there is such a place and geographically speaking, it’s
about 45 miles Northeast of Memphis, Tennessee. So I used to play this little
place, this little night club, quite often. And in the winter, it would get
quite cold in Twist, Arkansas.So they
used to take something like a big garbage pail. They’d set in the middle of the
floor, dance floor that is, and half fill it with kerosene. They’d light that
fuel and that’s what we used for heat. The people dancing would generally dance
around it. You know, when you’re young, you do some foolish things. But one
night, two guys started to fighting, and one knocked the other over this
container. And when they did, it spilled on the floor. When it spilled on the
floor, it looked like a river of fire. And everybody started to run for the
front door, including B.B. King. But when I got on the outside, I realized I’d
left my guitar. And in ’49, believe me, keeping a good guitar, that was a hard
job. People would borrow it without your permission. Anyway, I went back for my
guitar. And when I did, the building was a wooden building, burning rapidly,
and it began to collapse around me. So I almost lost my life trying to save my
guitar. The next morning, though, I found out the two men were fighting over a
lady that worked in the club. I never did meet her, but I learned that her name
was Lucille. I named my guitar “Lucille” to remind me never to do a thing like
that again.”

In 2010, the Black History Commission of Arkansas issued a
grant for two historical markers to be placed near the site where the nightclub
once stood in Twist, forever commemorating B.B. King and his guitar, Lucille.

B.B. King’s most famous song is “The Thrill is Gone.” I
prefer to remember him by another of his hits, “Let the Good Times Roll.” As
long as pure, heartfelt music like the blues of B.B. King can be heard and
enjoyed, the thrill will never be truly be gone.

Friday, May 22, 2015

The Arkansas History Commission and State Archives and the
Black History Commission of Arkansas were recently awarded over $24,000.

In early May, the Arkansas Humanities Council, Department
of Arkansas Heritage, and the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the
History Commission $24,050 for public programming and outreach.Throughout each year, the History Commission
sponsors various workshops and symposiums for its patrons.The Humanities Council grant will help
support workshops and symposiums held during 2015.

The Black History Commission of Arkansas also received a
grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council as well. The BHCA was awarded a
$1,350 African American Heritage Grant for the purpose of supporting public
programming and education. Each year, the BHCA holds two symposiums dedicated
to furthering the study of African American history in Arkansas. This grant will
assist in funding the June 6, 2015, symposium focusing on the roots of African
American foodways.

In reference to the importance of the History Commission receiving this external
funding, Dr. Lisa Speer, director of the AHC, said, “Without funding from the
Council, the Commission would not be able to accomplish some of its goals. My
staff and I are grateful for the support that the Council has provided to the
Commission through the years.”

The Arkansas History Commission and State Archives, located
in Little Rock, is the official state archives of Arkansas and maintains the
largest collection of historical materials on Arkansas in the world. The
mission of the Black History Commission of Arkansas is to collect materials
pertaining to African American history for the Arkansas History Commission, to
encourage research in the state's African American history, and to cooperate
with the Arkansas Department of Education to develop materials that support the
teaching of African American history in our public schools.